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The Trilliant Expanse
The Trilliant Expanse is a collection of systems on the periphery of Acheron Rho; a nexus of trade routes and under-governed planets. Given a charter to administer and govern this territory on behalf of the Empire, the Trilliant Ring is slowly bringing these worlds back into the fold. Full text of the Trilliant Treaty: Link The Trilliant Expanse is a remote region on the edge of Acheron Rho’s drive-space. It includes four major systems (Helesco, Igliza, Pavvis, and Oenon), billions of inhabitants, the home planet of the Trilliant Ring, and numerous cultural and political eccentricities. Several major trade corridors also traverse the Expanse. They connect periphery systems - colloquially referred to as Sector South - to the Imperial core worlds. Navette, formerly Berkmann III, sits atop the routes serving as a bridge connecting residents of the Expanse, their labour, and wealth to the rest of Acheron Rho. Traditionally under-governed due to the Expanse’s remoteness, the Trilliant Ring has been tasked with exerting control on behalf of the Empire. Today, the Expanse is in the process of becoming a productive Imperial territory. The Trilliant Ring serves as a charter company, acting with Imperial authority to administer planetary governments in exchange for broad commercial rights over trade. The corporation’s peculiar culture and outlook have had wide-reaching effects on the denizens of the Expanse as integration progresses. Key Features The Trilliant Ring is an integral part of the Expanse. The corporation’s presence, technology, and wealth are inescapably prominent in the region and the introduction of Trilliant ideals has had a notable effect on the populace. Many Houses have a presence and operations on these planets as well. Specifics of their responsibilities and duties (as they relate to the Trilliant Expanse) are described in the original treaty. For some, the Expanse is indistinguishable from the rest of the Empire. House Crux officers carry out the Synthetic Sedition Order, Richters preside over court rooms, noble interests are put ahead of the needs of serfs, duels are subject to the same accords, and the High Church is the dominant religious institution. However, the Trilliant Expanse has several features that distinguish it from the rest of Acheron Rho: * The Trilliant Ring acts as the government and regional tax authority, responsible for Local Law. The corporation’s influence and peculiar culture can be felt throughout the Expanse while it’s opulent wealth is on full display. * Displays of piety and religious observance are more common in the Expanse. A serf-led religious movement is growing in prominence that glorifies the High Church and espouses tenets of the Thousand Hands. * Other than the Synthetic Purge, local law enforcement is upheld by private security forces. Deathless mercenaries are often seen working alongside local police, though they do not participate in the Crux purges. * The Trilliant Ring maintains a Foreign Legion in the Expanse under the supervision of House Aquila. It is composed of Limitanei recruited from the Expanse's worlds, trained by Aquilan leadership. * Marquise is home to its own independent Psionic Academy, an ancient refuge for the psychically gifted. This monastic institution is welcoming its first cohort of House Serpens teachers since the Scream. * Learning exchanges and scientific progress are shared with the larger Empire through a series of programs called the Scientific Expanse, run by House Triangulum. * Many Upright Vagrant captains run salvage and mining operations across the Expanse, granted salvage rights in an accord with the Trilliant Ring. The New Antioch Mineral Exchange provides a place for them to sell goods and collect finders fees for salvage. * Past prohibitions against ACRE (during the STO War) and the product’s poor cache in Trilliant culture make it exceedingly difficult to obtain Fizzy Cheese in the Expanse. Major Planets There are seven major planets in the Trilliant Expanse. Each has its own qualities and a larger role it plays in the region. These planets (and systems) can be found below in the order they were incorporated into the Expanse. Igliza System Trillia IX Trillia IX (Igliza) is the homeworld of the Trilliant Ring and its artificial planetary ring is where the organization gets its namesake. The ring sees frequent visitors from all the Houses and is an opulent paradise for the wealthy elite. Trillia IX is known for the extreme dichotomy between the pleasure-world on its ring and the frozen, blasted hellscape that is its surface. As the home planet of the Trilliant Ring, Trillia IX is the cultural capital and seat of government within the Expanse. Interplanetary affairs and governance matters within the Expanse are discussed and dealt with on Trillia IX. Therefore, most Houses with a presence in the Expanse maintain an embassy on the ring. Helesco System Navette Navette (Helesco), formerly Berkmann III, was a haven for religious refugees from the Empire and has been a hotspot for anti-Imperial sentiment and religious anarchy. Once a disparate collection of parishes and religious sects, Navette has begun to coalesce into a community united in their pursuit of spiritual and material perfection. Among all the planets in the Expanse, Navette’s culture has been the most thoroughly transformed by Trilliant intervention. Navette is one of the few inhabited planets in a region of space known as “the Crossroads,” which connects much of the southern rim of Acheron Rho with the Imperial core worlds. This gives the planet significant strategic and commercial value. Through a series of transformative investments, the planet has become a bustling trade hub and gateway to the Expanse. Pavvis System Marquise Marquise (Pavvis), formerly Mona, presides over the Pavvis system’s psychically gifted population, most of whom were banished to the planet in the years after the Scream. The planet’s frigid atmosphere and the scattered remnants of its biosphere are the result of a massive ecological catastrophe that occurred in its antediluvian past. Therefore, the vast majority of the planet’s population lives in its main city, Mona, along the temperate band at the planet’s equator. Marquise is home to a Psionic Academy, the only known academy in Acheron Rho outside of Hroa. This monastery-like institution is a refuge for the psychically gifted and has been a point of interest to both the Trilliant Ring and House Serpens. More recently, the Trilliant Ring has been enlisting the help of the academy with its experiments into psitech, leveraging the planet’s advanced technology. Intaglio Intaglio (Pavvis), formerly Valua, is largely covered in a shallow ocean, with a single mega continent comprising most of the planet’s landmass. It is a warm, swampy, and hospitable planet rife with thick vegetation, megaflora, and abundant arable land. The planet is a massive population center, home to billions of residents. Intaglio is the most densely populated planet in the Expanse and the industrial, manufacturing, and agricultural powerhouse of the region. Due to a history of serf involvement in commerce, the planet is also exceptionally industrious. However, its limited stellar infrastructure has left the planet isolated, putting a damper on trade with the rest of the Empire - an angle the Trilliant Ring has been leveraging to bring Intaglio into the fold. Ascher Ascher (Pavvis), formerly Eurynoc, is an outpost and the last planet to be colonized in the Pavvis system. Due to incomplete terraforming before the Scream, the planet has a burning, toxic, and invasive atmosphere that severely limits its habitability. Most of the planet’s population inhabit a nearby moon, Risti Sumalin, set up as a staging ground for future colonization efforts. Risti Sumalin is host to a minor Grail, a pretech relic that converts the planet’s materials into plentiful usable goods for the colony’s descendents. Fearing abuse by outsiders, these residents have isolated the Grail and developed a communist society around its use. The Trilliant Ring’s incorporation of the planet into the Expanse has had to carefully toe the line and be circumspect in how it approaches issues around the Grail. Oenon System Cabochon Cabochon (Oenon), formerly Halvei, is a massive ocean-world, with its cities moving amongst the waves. One of the later planets to be targeted by the Trilliant Ring, the incorporation of Halvei into the Expanse was still ongoing as of 3201. Notably, a cultural group known as the Halvei Mandate opposes the Trilliant Ring and their governance. The Mandate proclaims messages of inner beauty and the simple life, a message which resonates to the planet’s populace - to the Trilliant Ring’s frustration. Attempts have been made to remove the Mandate from Cabochon, but efforts remain ongoing. Briolette Briolette (Oenon), formerly Zercoulos, is the last major planet in the Oenon system and has just recently been incorporated into the Expanse. As its newest addition and milestone for completing the Expanse, the Trilliant Ring eyes the planet with both hope and trepidation. Major Projects The Trilliant Ring has made significant investments in the Expanse. Using its vast wealth and authority within the region, the corporation has had little difficulty making sweeping changes. In addition to implementing its advanced technology to leverage the Expanse’s economy, the Trilliant Ring has undertaken planetary scale investments to improve the quality of life on its planets. Below is a list of the more noteworthy projects made to reshape the Expanse. Across the Expanse The Thousand Hands Initiative Main article: Thousand Hands The Thousand Hands Initiative is a conglomerate forged by the Trilliant Ring and The High Church of Messiah-as-Emperox, aimed to put humanity back on the path to another golden era for the species. This quasi-religious movement encourages the education of serfs, the creation of public works, and the refinement of artisanal skill - aimed towards the pursuit of material and spiritual perfection. This movement has taken hold on Navette and is beginning to spread throughout the Expanse. In addition to proselytizing the virtue of its core tenets, it is also leading to transformational, unifying change on the planet itself. On a world known for its anarchism and disparate parishes, the Thousand Hands initiative has unified many of the religious organizations. It has helped bridge the gap between isolated communities and the Empire as a whole, ushering members towards productive citizenship and contributing in the broader Imperial society. Serf Education Within the Expanse, the principle of serf participation and empowerment is ingrained in the social, cultural, and - due to the Thousand Hands - religious fabric of the Expanse. Using the Trilliant Ring’s vast resources, knowledge, and taxation powers they were able to set up free educational programs for children and even adults of the Expanse. These programs not only cover the basics of education but also extend into other higher, vocational fields of education for more promising students. While these schools may not compare to the high standards of House Triangulum institutions, they offer access and opportunity not otherwise available to most serfs. The Trilliant Ring began investing in these programs in the hope that students will become skilled enough to not only be a boon to the Expanse but also to the corporation itself. It made joining, especially for children, more enticing by providing student housing and food. To make this all possible Trilliant is investing in schools and campuses across the Expanse, using its holding companies to deliver educational programming. Holding Companies To better provide for the Trilliant Expanse and to ensure essential services are available, the Trilliant Ring has had to expand its suite of products and services dramatically. The corporation has launched, invested in, and bought out several major enterprises within the Expanse to serve as holding companies. These companies provide services, raw materials, and goods for serf consumption. Part of this enterprise involves making low-cost goods and supplies for basic needs, a market the Trilliant Ring had traditionally avoided. To prevent the decline of the Trilliant brand value, the corporation has kept these activities running under different trade names. Holding companies are typically held indirectly or monitored in trust by senior members and the Trilliant Ring’s Upper Echelon. Below is a selection of some of the larger, more well known brands held by the Trilliant Ring and its agents: * Aldwyne Delights - Produces beverages including wine, tea, coffee, and cider. * Precious Collection - Produces a comprehensive selection of ores, refined metals, and precious stones. Navette Berkmann Cathedral Main article: Berkmann Cathedral The Trilliant Ring designed and constructed a massive floating cathedral on the planet Navette, a project commissioned by the High Church of Messiah-as-Emperox. Referred to as the NeonIII Project, the Cathedral is a complex that floats above the surface of the planet. While capable of slow atmospheric movement, the facility rarely strays from its primary hub near the city of New Antioch. The facility is an amalgamation of eight majestic megastructures, each designed with the Ten Virtues in mind. By the hands of Trilliant Originators, the structures in the Berkmann Cathedral are intricately decorated and expertly designed, all at a breathtaking scale. Interstellar Trade Hub The Trilliant Ring has made transformational investments on the planet Navette. The organization has largely pacified the planet’s anarchism, established New Antioch as a functional capital city, and installed transportation and logistics infrastructure that parallels the sector’s busiest ports. Navette is now home to major port infrastructure, a logistics and sorting center, and a functional space elevator. The planet, once a hotspot of anarchy and anti-Imperial sentiment, has become a bustling hub for trade and transit. Marquise Tourmaline Towers Main article: Tourmaline Towers The Tourmaline Towers are a trio of extravagant superstructures assembled to become a Trilliant Ring enclave on the planet of Marquise. Designed by Trilliant Originator, Ilya Peshkov and completed in 3200, the Towers are meant to embody the Trilliant spirit of perseverance and adaptability. One of the primary functions of the Tourmaline Towers is to predict, monitor, and warn against the planet’s severe ice storms. By using grav-stabilization technology and advanced telemetry equipment, these towers protect many on the planet from the dangers of Marquise’s inclement weather. True to Trilliant design, these facilities also serve as a resort and adventure tourist destination on Marquise, while secretly housing the Trilliant Ring’s Psitech Research Centers. Origins and History Full text of the Trilliant Treaty: Link The systems within the Trilliant Expanse have traditionally been remote and distant from the Imperial core worlds. Several drive-space jumps away from any House’s homeworld, it has been exceedingly difficult to exert control over their populace. Following the events of the Scream, many planets within the Expanse fell into disarray. Even after their reconnection this remoteness and lack of control had manifested into overtly anti-Imperial sentiment. Several major planets became home to anarchists, cyber-communists, and competing regional hegemons. The difficulty of governing directly had allowed separatism and sedition to fester. The Trilliant Ring saw a lucrative opportunity to solidify the Empire’s hold and expand its own operations within the region. By seizing major trade routes and exerting monopoly influence, the Trilliant Ring stood to gain considerably. However, initial attempts to exert control over Navette were met with concern and alarm from the Empire. Further overt action and the seizing of planetary governments would cause outrage within the Imperial core. Moving forward required explicit permission, if not outright endorsement, from the Houses and High Church. In early 3200, several looming conflicts were occurring in the core worlds, including the rise of the United People’s Collective (UPC) and growing tensions with the Sector Trade Organization (STO). Against this backdrop, the Trilliant Ring petitioned the Houses of the Empire, offering to enforce their interests in the Expanse and provide material assistance against the STO in exchange for increased autonomy and commercial rights. After a protracted period of intense negotiations the Trilliant Ring, High Church, and several Houses came to an agreement called the Trilliant Treaty. This territorial agreement declared that the Trilliant Ring would act as the Empire’s caretaker in the Expanse, granting it the autonomy and legitimacy it needed. In exchange, the Trilliant Ring would enforce Imperial interests and expand Imperial institutions to these planets, bringing its residents more in line with norms throughout Acheron Rho. While the agreement has been signed by the Church and most of the Houses, there were two parties who did not sign the original treaty. They are House Vela, who had lost their status as a House while negotiations were ongoing, and House Fornax, who remains the only House not currently signed onto the agreement. Further, 3200 was a period of conflict and transition in the Empire, after the assassination of the Betrayer of Humanity but before the ascension of the Pyxis Emperox. As such, the agreement has yet to receive formal assent by the Emperox. Following the coronation of the incoming Emperox, the agreement is expected to be presented to them for their final approval.Category:The Trilliant Ring Category:Trilliant Ring Locations __FORCETOC__